Some time ago, I heard a speaker talk about a husband and wife who were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary. At the celebration party, a young woman approached the wife and asked her the secret for their longevity in marriage.

The elderly woman thought for just a moment, then confided, “When we got married I decided to make a list of ten things that he might do that could potentially bother me, and then I would simply overlook those things.”

“That’s a really good idea,” responded the younger woman.

“Well, yes it was.” The woman smiled and chuckled a bit, “Except that I never made the list.”

“You didn’t?” asked the young lady, obviously perplexed. “Then how did that help you?”

With a twinkle in her eye the older woman responded, “It’s simple. Over the years, every time John did anything that bothered me, I’d just think, ‘That would have been on the list.’ And I chose to overlook it.”

What a great attitude to have. What would happen if we all did that in the Church? Would it make a difference, do you suppose, if we honestly overlooked one another’s faults? Scripture says, “Be patient, bearing with one another in love” (Ephesians 4:2b).